Wednesday, January 09, 2013

My 2013 Hall of Fame Ballot

The 2013 Hall of Fame voting results will be announced later today and I wanted to cast my ballot as well.

*I'm not into that "first ballot" bull crap, this is all about whether I think they should be in or not. Not whether they should go in first shot, 2nd year, or their last hurrah.

On My Ballot:

1. Craig Biggio - a tremendous up the middle player over the course of a long, distinguished career. An all-star at 3 different positions (catcher, second base, and center field). Very durable an productive over his 20 seasons, all in the Houston Astros uniform with 3060 hits, 1844 runs, 668 doubles, 55 triples, 291 homeruns, 1175 rbi, 414 stolen bases, .281/.796, 7 time all-star, 4 Gold Gloves, 5 Silver Slugger awards, 62.1 WAR, MLB record 285 hit by pitches, and according to Baseball-Reference.com the 13th best second baseman of all-time.

2. Mike Piazza - arguably the best offensive catcher ever (debatable with Johnny Bench). Rookie of the Year, 12 time all-star, 10 Silver Slugger awards, .308/.922 batter with 1048 runs, 427 homeruns, 1335 rbi, and a 56.1 WAR. Piazza got a lot of negative attention for his defense, but truth be told, he was a solid defensive catcher for half of his career, and according to Baseball-Reference.com has a positive DWAR. There have been rumors of his PED use, but no evidence, only heresy.

3. Jeff Bagwell - another Astros lifer, and like Piazza is cast with the shadow of legitimacy due to speculation of PED use. The facts include him as one of the top 10 best first basemen of all-time that was a career .297/.948 hitter with 1517 runs, 488 doubles, 449 homeruns, 1529 rbi, 202 stolen bases, 76.7 WAR, 1 MVP award, 4 all-star appearances, 3 Silver Slugger awards, 1 Gold Glove, and was the Rookie of the Year. If not for a horrible shoulder injury, Bags would have likely played another handful of productive seasons, adding to his counting numbers.

4. Curt Schilling- sure he's a pompous ass and only has 216 wins, but other than those detractors, he had a brilliant career. During his 7-year peak, he notched a 61.4 WAR, that's dominance. He was blowing away batters in the age of performance enhancement. His career WAR is 76.1 and Baseball-Reference.com ranks him as the 29th best starting pitcher of all-time with 3.46 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 3116 strikeouts, 83 complete games, 6 all-star appearances, and one helluva playoff resume (11-2 record in 19 starts, 2.23 ERA, and a 0.97 WHIP). Can't forget about the "bloody sock" either.

5. Tim Raines - Rock was an extremely fast man, having swiped 808 bases during his career. He was a good hitter too, .294/.810, 1571 runs, 430 double, 113 triples, 170 homeruns, 980 rbi, and a 7 time all-star. Baseball-Reference.com ranks him as the 6th best left fielder of all-time with a 66.2 WAR.

6. Kenny Lofton - people don't seem to appreciate the value that he brought to the game. In his day he was an elite defensive outfielder and the best leadoff hitter around. His career WAR of 64.9 ranks him 8th all-time in center field. Stats: .299/.794, 1528 runs, 2428 hits, 383 doubles, 116 triples, 130 homeruns, 781 rbi, 622 stolen bases, 6 time all-star, and 4 Gold Gloves.

7. Larry Walker - injuries are the only thing keeping him from beign a surefire inductee. He was a complete player- defense (7 Gold Gloves, rocket arm), base running (230 stolen bases), and hitter (.313/.965, 1355 runs, 2160 hits, 471 doubles, 62 triples, 383 homeruns, 1311 rbi). Also, he was a 5 time all-star, 3 time Silver Slugger, and the 9th best right fielder of all-time in terms of WAR (69.7).

16 comments:

Nobody elected. That's complete bullshit. I hate these uppity baseball writers that have no clue about the current state of the game and the players they're now voting on. Just because a guy put up bigs numbers doesn't mean he was juicing. What about all the other eras of baseball and their prime time players? I'm pissed. The election process is a sham.

Throw in Maddux, Galvine, Thomas, Mussina, and Kent next year. Dear god. We might be seeing veterans committee selections only for a few years. Actually probably not- Maddux, and Randy Johnson the year after, will be just too good to not make it in first go unless steroid allegations come out against them. But the clogging up of the ballot with deserving candidates over the next five years will be nuts.

agreed. agreed. agreed. except your line about bonds. he's not just implicated in PEDs. he's an admitted user. remember, he thought it was linseed oil and some cream that would help his knee or some shit like that. regardless of his lies about what he thought he was taking, he admitted to taking 'roids. so, change implied user to confirmed user.

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